Taiji for Health & Posture

The following story is from one of our students who has found great success in learning Zhao Bao Taiji Chuan with Master Yazi Liu. This is his own experience which we hope you will find interesting.

Master Liu’s Taiji has had a massive positive effect on my posture and coordination.
As a child, I was diagnosed with & flat feet. Despite the comic title, this is an extremely
debilitating condition in which the whole posture is collapsed and disconnected.

Two years of physiotherapy actually made the condition much worse by forcing me to wear
tilted shoes which threw my weight onto the sides of my feet and increased the collapse of
my lower back and rounding of my shoulders. Daily ’exercises’ in which I had to walk on
the sides of my feet with my toes scrunched up caused them to be permanently twisted
and bunched. I could only wear shoes that were two sizes too large and even then, my
feet would often bleed because of chafing.

I could not run. Walking was tiring and would make my legs ache, and school Physical
Education was torture. My teachers could not understand my clumsiness and lack of
coordination and strength, and the other kids?… if you can’t play football, you don’t exist.
As an adult, I discovered the Alexander Technique and Taiji and set about trying to undo
the damage. I made progress, but it was always painfully slow. Four Alexander Teachers
and Three Taiji teachers later, I met Master Liu. I was immediately impressed by the fact
that his Taiji worked!

There was no doubt that this was absolutely real, authentic Taiji which inspired me to
continue. I later discovered that Master Liu is also a master of Tui Na which he used to
cure a stiff shoulder pain that I had suffered for several months.

His teaching caused my Taiji to progress quickly and the rate of change of my body began
to accelerate!

This change has been exponential. I now have arches in my feet! My lower back has
changed dramatically. My upper spine now has an upward direction. My shoulders are
more relaxed and connected and my hand coordination is much improved.

Every single week, I see huge changes as my Taiji and my posture improve and this
improvement has helped everything else that I do. Whether playing the guitar or singing or
skiing or sat at the computer or brushing my teeth, my whole body from head to toe is
easier, more comfortable, more relaxed and more in control.